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#SNL40 Means ‘Still No Latinos’ After 40 Years

“Jane, you ignorant slut.”

So began the famed catchphrase by Saturday Night Live’s Dan Aykroyd to Jane Curtin in their weekly running comedy sketch on NBC. Somewhere rushing around in my brain is a similar phrase I’d like to use with Lorne Michaels, the creator and executive producer of the four-decades-long SNL late-night comedy show.

Conversations with NBCU and Comcast have resulted in zero progress. Requests for meetings with Lorne Michaels have never been acknowledged, much less granted. This comes on the heels of a major merger between Comcast (the parent of NBCU) and Time Warner Cable. Should the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approve this behemoth merger, it would effectively cover 90 percent of all Latinos in the United States.

What safeguard do you think exist for fairness and equity in a new mega-merger for Latino representation, in light of Comcast/NBCU’s willingness to give Lorne Michaels a pass on the need to cast SNL in a more representational manner? It reminds me of the phrase, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In the minds of Lorne Michaels and producers of that ilk, the failure to not cast Latinos had no impact on the show’s success, so why change a formula that is working and winning?

That is the kind of mentality that keeps Latinos locked out of casting. We are welcomed to be part of the audience, but not part of the show. Latino talent gets sideswiped because we as viewers do not demand more of these programmers and networks. Tonight when NBCU and Comcast celebrate Lorne Michael’s 40 seasons of SNL, send a message and change the channel. If we aren’t part of the picture, why should we be part of the party?

You people are so hell bent on being perceived by others as different from the mainstream. Perhaps, you should try acting more like U.S. Americans. I don't see any other group complaining because they are not being cast in SNL. I don't recall hearing of an Italian-American, or if a Greek-American complaining because they are being overlooked by the casting directors of SNL.

Stop the whining.

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